Issues

Stage Details

Legislation -
Bill Failed
(Senate)
(20-20) -
March 9, 2012(Key vote)

Vote Result

Yea Votes

Nay Votes

Vote Smart's Synopsis:

Vote to pass a bill that authorizes parents of students in certain public schools to petition the district to implement a turnaround option.

Highlights:

Requires schools that are unable to “improve performance” to send written notice to parents of the parent's ability to petition the school to implement a school turnaround option and requires that the notice include all of the following information (Sec. 5):

The turnaround options available to the school;

The process for implementing the turnaround options;

The date and location for submission of parent petitions;

The date and location of the school board meeting that will consider any parent petition and the school's turnaround options; and

The contact information for the school district.

Specifies that parents receive one vote per eligible student for the petition and that only the turnaround option selected by a majority of parents will be considered for implementation by the school board (Sec. 5).

Authorizes parents in any public school to request performance evaluations from each teacher their child is assigned to (Sec. 2).

Requires school districts to notify parents if their child's teacher is out-of-field and inform the parents that virtual instruction from a certified in-field teacher who is rated “effective” or “highly effective” is available (Sec. 2).

Requires schools to notify parents if their child's teacher is “underperforming” and inform the parents that virtual instruction from a teacher who has been rated as “effective” or “highly effective” is available (Sec. 2).

Specifies that a teacher is “underperforming” if any of the following conditions are met (Sec. 2):

The teacher is rated as “unsatisfactory” in two consecutive years;

The teacher is rated as “unsatisfactory” in two out of three years; or

The teacher is rated as “needs improvement” in three consecutive years.

Prohibits foreign governments and political parties, persons outside of the United States, and businesses whose principle operation is outside of the United States from operating charter schools (Sec. 3).

Note:

NOTE: THIS IS A SUBSTITUTE BILL, MEANING THE LANGUAGE OF THE ORIGINAL BILL HAS BEEN REPLACED. THE DEGREE TO WHICH THE SUBSTITUTE BILL TEXT DIFFERS FROM THE PREVIOUS VERSION OF THE TEXT CAN VARY GREATLY.